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SPARROW. 
HOUSE SPARROW. COMMON SPARROW. 
Passer domesticus, 
Fringilla domestica , 
Pyrgita domestica , 
Selby. 
Pennant. Montagu. 
Fleming. 
Passer —A Sparrow. Domesticus— Domestic—of, or pertaining to houses. 
The geographical range of this well-known bird is very 
extensive. It is common throughout Europe, from Denmark, 
Norway, Sweden, and Dalmatia, to Spain, Portugal, Italy, the 
Levant, Liguria, and all the islands of the Mediterranean; in 
the north of Africa and the range of the Nubian Mountains; 
in Asia also, in the Himalayan district, and in various other 
parts. 
Everywhere he is the same, at least under the same 
circumstances, except indeed in appearance; for, ‘unlike, 0 
how unlike,’ is the smoke-begrimed Sparrow of the town, to 
the handsomely-plumaged bird of the country! Everywhere 
he makes himself at home, and ‘aequo pulsat pede pauperumque 
tahernas, regumque turres.’ The ‘cloud-capt towers’ and the 
‘Poor Law Union,’ the ‘lowly thatched cottage,’ and the 
splendid Gothic mansion, nay, the very palace of the Queen 
of England herself, one and all hear testimony to the 
universality of the dispersion of the Sparrow, and the self- 
accommodating nature of his domiciliary visitations. 
In this country it is everywhere, or nearly everywhere to 
be seen in greater or less abundance. In the neighbourhood 
of Doncaster, it comes under the latter category, for some 
years ago I recorded in the ‘Naturalist,’ old series, vol. ii, 
page 166, my observation, corroborated on his noticing it by 
the editor, that there they are, I mean, that they were at 
that time, far from common birds. 
